The Stealth Burner

Flying under the radar on a trail near you.....

Just finished the build and got a ride in on this beauty, initial impressions are very positive.
This is no 29er for sure.
Built the Burner up with a spec close to that of my Spot and will be riding the two bikes back to back over the next few months to see what bike works best for me.
I'm very curious to see what I find out.

I love the stealth! That is quite possible the coolest frame I've seen, very jealous. I assume the frame is anodized, what about the lettering? What was the turn-around time, I guessing it was a special order? I might have to get that done to my frame next winter.

I love how the frame turned out as well. The bike is pc not ano, it was done in flat black with black decals. I would have liked black ano but as this is a preproduction frame it was either paint it or leave it raw.
Very sexy!

Cool, would like to know your thoughts of the quality of the pc on a long-term basis. Not that I am opposed to pc-ing, because your frame is making me drool. However, my black ano has been tough as nails. Enjoy your ride...man it’s sweet!

Nice setup. Looking forward to your review and comparison to the Spot.

^^^^^ this.

I'm ready to move on from my '01 RFX and am on the fence between a Spot & a Burner. From everything I've read, the differences come down to "flickability", "nimbleness" and other terms that make it difficult to grasp. One will roll over tech terrain better than the other but does the Burner have any shortcomings to the Spot or is it all gravy? Keep us posted!

Looking good. We might have to paint our raw too.
Is that a medium or large?
Bars feel high on mine with 150 fork and external lower cup, I'm used to low/aggresive positioning.
I wish there was minions too, I really like consistency with my tires on my bikes.

J-Ha, Yep, love the stiffness of I9 wheelsets and with the 27.5 wheel size I wanted to keep flex out of the picture.
How is your Burner treating you?

jjkitt, I would go with ano given the choice. The ano on my Spot has been very durable, easy to clean and always looks sharp. I love how the pc came out on this bike but it will not stay fresh looking for as long and does not shed dirt like the ano.
Another plus for ano is that you can always paint it in a couple years if the finish starts showing more wear than you like.

2Turners, Good eye! Yes those are the much discussed "cheap Chinese carbon rims", we will see how they hold up. They are not Enves for sure but much easier on the wallet. Also I like that I can build these to I9's aluminum spokes which is not possible with Enves.

MK, We will see. My wife has a set on her Spot and they have treated her well. I know some have had great luck with them, and others not so much. I will keep everyone updated on how well they survive. Hope I don't need a spare wheelset anytime soon...

I'm ready to move on from my '01 RFX and am on the fence between a Spot & a Burner. From everything I've read, the differences come down to "flickability", "nimbleness" and other terms that make it difficult to grasp. One will roll over tech terrain better than the other but does the Burner have any shortcomings to the Spot or is it all gravy? Keep us posted!

PS Build looks soooo sick, congrats

Glad to hear interest in this. I will do my best to help explain my finding, good and bad, to the community at large. It seems that there is a lot of riders like myself who are willing to give the 27.5 a chance, but have some reservations for one reason or another.
By doing this comparison I hope to help provide some solid information and insight into the differences between the two wheel sizes.
My hope is that the results of the test will help riders find the bike that will be the most fun for them.

Hey J - you have that fork set to 160mm? With that fork what's the BB height?

Nice bike - can't wait to hear your thoughts.

Wow, good to hear from you Luke!
The fork is at 150mm right now, I will pull the spacer when I get some time. I was just eager to ride the bike and figured it would be good to know what it felt like with the fork at 150.
BB is at 13.25 as it sits.
Keep an eye on the forum I will be updating regularly.

Airwrek, The frame is a large. One thing I like right off about the Burner is that my hands are lower than my Large Spot. Even when I bump the fork up the bar will be a little lower than on the Spot.
Hear ya about the tires; the Schwalbes are very vanilla imo. Minions would be sweet. One thing I have noticed though, you get better cornering adhesion from a 27.5" tire than the same tire in 26".

Wow, good to hear from you Luke!
The fork is at 150mm right now, I will pull the spacer when I get some time. I was just eager to ride the bike and figured it would be good to know what it felt like with the fork at 150.
BB is at 13.25 as it sits.
Keep an eye on the forum I will be updating regularly.

I still lurk every now and again

I was asking because the bike looked fairly slack, which is good. I'd have to guess that with the fork at 150mm the bike is more balanced.

I was asking because the bike looked fairly slack, which is good. I'd have to guess that with the fork at 150mm the bike is more balanced.

Thanks for the info and enjoy the ride!

The headangle sits at 66.5 as it is now, pretty much right where I like it. I have a 160mm Lyric on my Spot that I had planned on reducing down to 150. I ended up liking it so much at 160 that I left it there.
Based on this experience I am looking forward to trying the 34 at 160.

I'm ready to move on from my '01 RFX and am on the fence between a Spot & a Burner. From everything I've read, the differences come down to "flickability", "nimbleness" and other terms that make it difficult to grasp. One will roll over tech terrain better than the other but does the Burner have any shortcomings to the Spot or is it all gravy? Keep us posted!

PS Build looks soooo sick, congrats

BB heights are very different between the Spot and Burner. Check your terrain.